Perhaps in a few years deep-water robot developed by CSR would operate thousands meters under the sea. On February 5 (Beijing time), board of directors of Electric Branch, CSR Zhuzhou Institute officially stated that, it had signed an equity acquisition agreement with SMD specialized in manufacturing of deep-water robot and undersea engineering machinery, under which Electric Branch would buy 100% of SMD's equity at about 130,000,000 pounds (equivalent to RMB1,200,000,000). CSR Times Electric would thereby be expected to expand its core technologies toward the field of deep-water robot and other undersea high-end equipment and fill the gap in domestic industry of deep-water robot.

The industry of marine engineering equipment is an important part of the seven strategic emerging industries determined by China, which is knowledge-intensive, cost-efficient, consuming less material resources and has great potential for development, and as a core of marine industrial value chain, is the basis and foundation for development of marine economy and a critical approach to implementation of national strategy of "marine power".

Over centuries China's industry of marine engineering equipment has been improved greatly, and a number of breakthroughs have been made in marine oil/gas development equipment, marine engineering ship, deep-water equipment manufacturing and marine renewable resource development equipment. However, compared to the overseas advanced technologies, the marine engineering industry in China is still weak and at the low end of the industry chain, especially in research and development of deep-water equipment, and core technologies have to be exported overseas.

As early as in 2012, Medium-/Long-Term Development Program for Marine Engineering Equipment Manufacturing Industry was established jointly by MIIT, NDRC, MOST, SASAC and State Oceanic Administration, encouraging domestic large-scale enterprises with potential to develop competitive products and enterprises with strong technological strength.

As introduced by related leaders of CSR Times Electric, expansion toward the field of deep-water equipment for marine engineering is a structural extension of core technologies in its electric driving and control for rail transit, which is directly related to and commercially consistent with the company's advantageous driving and electrification, industrial control and automation technologies, and associated with and complementary to expansion in existing off-shore wind power, marine ship industry, engineering machinery and drilling machine industries, and is intended to build up an industrial cluster for marine industrial equipment.

Located in Newcastle, UK, SMD is a world-leading service-grade deep-water robot and undersea engineering machinery manufacturer. SMD is currently the second largest deep-water robot supplier in the world, and mainly supplies service-grade and high-reliability remotely-controlled undersea engineering machinery and deep-water robot equipment which is intended for deep-water application, adaptable to severe environment. SMD takes half of the global market for undersea self-propelled digging and cable laying machinery, and is the supplier of the first set of commercial undersea mining equipment in the world. In addition, SMD also supplied wave/tide power generation equipment and remotely-controlled robot working in harsh environment of nuclear power station to more than 30 countries and regions.

According to a forecast of Douglas Westwood, there is a strong potential in the market of deep-water robot. During the 5 years from 2013 to 2017, the estimated expenditure in operation of deep-water robot around the globe is 9.7 billion USD. The market of deep-water robot in China is still at an early stage, but is growing rapidly at an annual rate of 40-50%.

In recent years, with fast growth of rail transit industry in China, the market is getting saturated, so it is necessary for Zhuzhou Institute to accelerate internationalization, expand new industries and services and achieve industrial upgrade. Zhuzhou Institute currently has owned 10 overseas subsidiaries through industrial operation and merger/acquisition, covering 8 countries and regions around the globe, with total assets exceeding RMB 4 billion, nearly 4,000 foreign staff, achieved overseas sales revenue of RMB3,420,000,000. The company has been in a new stage for international business operation with transnational operation index up to 20%.

CSR Times Electric is on-board electric system integrator and supplier leading the rail transit industry in China. CSR Times Electric was listed with H-shares in Hong Kong in December 2006. In 2008 CSR Times Electric first carried out business abroad for the first and successfully emerged Dynex, a power semiconductor supplier in UK, to achieve industrialization of HV large-current IGBT components. Through emerge and innovative upgrade strategy, CSR Times Electric achieved fully domestic research and development, manufacturing and application of high-end electric and electronic components and other key technologies, further boosted growth of AC driving for rail transit vehicle, and developed experience in oversea enterprise management and international business operation.

As known, signature of the equity acquisition agreement is a crucial step of CSR Times Electric to transnational emerge. The full agreement will be subsequently submitted to related domestic and overseas regulatory authorities for review and approval, and go through all necessary processes before becoming effective.